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All Rise...

Judge Daryl Loomis travels the world looking for the perfect man to make him a sandwich.

The Charge

I feel weird today, Margot, like I'm coming out of my shell.

Opening Statement

The overwhelming success of Just Jaeckin's Emmanuelle gave every
middling producer the idea that they could put flesh up on screen and cash in
big. No matter how rotten the cinema, the happy result of this was the huge
catalog of titles for Cinemax's weekly Friday After Dark spectacular. For its
sheer weirdness and the shocking beauty of its titular star, Joy became
one of the most memorable of the genre. Now, for the first time ever in America,
this trashy gem arrives uncut and uncensored in a solid release from Severin,
the reigning king of DVD sleaze.

Facts of the Case

Joy Laurey (Claudia Udy, Nightforce), a supermodel working in
Montreal, decides it's time to ditch her poor, artsy boyfriend and get with a
real man. With her looks that means a ton of candidates, so she has to hold
worldwide tryouts. From Canada to Mexico and over the pond to France, Joy makes
the most of her travels as she falls in love, learns about herself, and
discovers much more than she bargained for.

The Evidence

When this would air on cable in the late '80s, you had to be sure to catch it
from the beginning, because Joy opens with one of the funniest, creepiest
scenes in all of erotic cinema. Our heroine, as a very young girl, is awoken by
a tiger roaring in her dream. She wanders into the hall and down the stairs to
find her parents making love by firelight. She's horrified, but she can't look
away. When they finish, her father slowly turns his head and their eyes lock.
Now he looks horrified, but suddenly a burning log falls out of the fireplace.
By the time he gets it back in, young Joy is gone, and we see her wandering off
down a snow-covered road.

No matter how many times I've seen it, this scene makes no sense to me. The
beauty of Joy, though, is that director Sergio Bergonzelli (Our Lady
of Lust, under the name Serge Bergon) really seems to believe that it means
something, even if he doesn't know what that something is. Bergonzelli weaves
the thinnest of plots around imagery like this, chock full of supposed
importance that means very little. The plot is barely worth mentioning, but
remember that opening scene. The memory of her father in the throes of passion
plays a big role in how the story pans out. Joy spends the intervening time
making friends and being nice to just about everybody she runs across. There's
no villain and no real drama to speak of, but the erotic situations get
progressively weirder, which should count for something.

Bergonzelli is a director who values style over substance far too much. He
shows skill behind the camera with some beautiful landscapes and an obsession
with the human body. The long, slow shots of Claudia Udy make her look
absolutely stunning and Bergonzelli believes that this fact is enough to carry
his film, but he is misguided. Gorgeous though she is, her performance is
brutal, devoid of anything that resembles acting. She oozes sexuality, but does
not know what to do in front of the camera. This makes her less attractive than
some of her sexpot counterparts in other films. Still, she's the best thing the
film has to offer and seems very comfortable with her body, so her line-reading
acumen will go largely unnoticed by viewers.

Severin's usual level of quality is at play, and Joy has never looked
or sounded better than it does here. It isn't perfect, but I really can't expect
any better. The print still has some light, ever-present grain, but the transfer
is otherwise pretty solid. The colors look a little washed out, but they're
still fairly warm, and the black levels are nice and strong. The sound mix is
acceptable; the dialog and music are well-balanced, but it's nothing special.
Our only extra is a short interview with Claudia Udy, who seems pretty dingy but
is genuinely proud of her work. She is an amiable person who discusses how she
was chosen for the role (hint: it has to do with her willingness to strip), and
the fun she had making the film. Not much, but Severin isn't known for copious
extras.

Closing Statement

As marginal of cinema as Joy is, it spawned a series of sequels that
make it look like a work of genius in comparison. Genre fans know what they're
in for and won't be disappointed, especially with the fine-looking release from
Severin.